Integrating RENewable energy and Ecosystem Services in environmental and energy policies

Programme 2014 - 2020 Interreg Europe

Date of latest update: 2025-12-13

Description

Description (EN):

Creating win-win solutions from trade-offs? The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005), and recently the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy emphasizes that human well-being is tightly linked to environmental conditions through the delivery of Ecosystem Services (ES), and therefore good territorial environmental management could, in principle, also deliver better outcomes for people and environment, resulting in win-win solutions. Low-carbon policies and Renewable Energy Sources (RES) development are challenged by the complexity of linkages between ecological, physical, social, and economic factors in relation to trade-offs and synergies between RES exploitation and the delivery of multiple ES. Generalizations and knowledge shortage lead to missing the acknowledgment of potential synergies between RES and ES within the governance and policy frameworks at territorial level. The IRENES project will put in place interregional knowledge and experience exchange process to identify gaps and barriers within current ERDF and energy policy instruments in relation to the RES and ES co-relation, including environmental, social, economic, and governance concerns. The active commitment of Structural Funds Managing Authorities, and governing bodies of other policy instruments addressed in the project, is of paramount importance to integrate the potential RES development trade-offs and co-benefits with ES into the territorial development policies. Therefore, IRENES consortium priority is to communicate and dialogue WITH policy makers and not to policy makers in order to trigger the knowledge transfer and to inform, with scientific evidences on RES and Ecosystem Services, the decision makers about the potential of a win–win outcome that can be incorporated into the regional and national ERDF Operational programmes, energy and climate strategies and laws. Let’s the IRENES stakeholders be the winners of the low-carbon policies challenges!

Achievements (EN): In terms of activities, the project has organised a total of 51 policy learning events. It has also identified 14 good practices, produced 5 action plans and led to the increased capacity of 52 people.

Website: https://www.interregeurope.eu/interreg-europe-2014-2020

Expected Results (EN):

The IRENES overall objective is to exchange knowledge, experiences and best practices of trade-offs and synergies of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) exploitation with multiple ecosystem services (ES) at territorial level, in order to incorporate the multiple benefits within the Structural Funds and other target policy instruments through the actions plans. IRENES aims to identify gaps and barriers within current policy instruments in relation to the trade-offs and synergies between RES and ES, including environmental, social, economic, and governance concerns related to the delivery of ES flows. Through the active engagement of ERDF management bodies, in coalition with technical partners, and with the engagement of relevant stakeholders including economic actors and local communities, IRENES will promote a process of multi-actor social co-learning through the coordinated action planning between EU regions and within the local case study areas. With respect to specific objectives, IRENES aims to: 1) Assess the gaps, barriers, and level of knowledge about the environmental impacts of RES within current ERDF and other environmental policy instruments and governance framework addressed in the project; 2) Outline and share methodologies for the assessment of trade-offs and synergies between RES exploitation and ES; 3) Identify good practices and experiences to be transferred into mainstream Structural Funds programmes and other policy instruments addressed by the project. Produce the action plans in each case study by integrating the RES-ES flow analysis in order to fill-in the gaps and barriers previously identified. This will be done by engaging stakeholders for the interregional learning process and to support the elaboration and implementation of the action plans. The action plans execution will be further compared at interregional level to depict lessons learnt and to strengthen the capacity of ERDF policies towards cohesive and innovative territories.

Expected Outputs (EN):

The most important IRENES outputs are the 5 Action Plans addressing the improvement of the target regional and national Structural Funds Programmes, and other environmental and energy policies related to the RES exploitation and Ecosystem Services flows. Main thematic outputs: - 5 RES SOTA scanning analysis (1 per target area) and 5 SWOT analysis of target policy instruments, providing an overview of their state of the art in relation to the IRENES concerns; - 5 maps of trade-offs and synergies between RES exploitation and ES provided by the territory in each case study; - 5 interregional site visits with in-depth peer review sessions of RES and policy instruments SWOT analysis of each project case study territory; - 5 Local IRENES Knowledge Accelerators steering interregional and local exchange of experience and policy learning through co-learning and participatory activities addressed to stakeholders, as 10 capacity building workshops, 5 job shadowing exchanges, 5 Role Playing Simulation sessions; - 1 IRENES Steering Group (SG) set and 7 SG meetings organised. - 1 Financial and Project Management Guide. - 5 progress reports delivered. - 1 IRENES communication strategy and 5 local Dissemination Plans. - 5 posters, 1 website, 5 newsletters, 1 brochure, 5 flyers. - 1 interregional Kick-off meeting and 5 Local Launch Events. As a main result, 45 persons from PPs' staff and stakeholders groups will be directly involved in IRENES activities. Estimated number of 500 persons will become better equipped and more efficient in managing and implementing environment and energy policies, coordinated by Structural Funds programmes and other relevant strategies, thanks to additional knowledge, improved decision-making skills and new relations acquired during the interregional exchange of experience process put in place. Coordinated and multi-stakeholder action planning and then effective implementation of envisaged customized measures will result in improved performance of target 5 regional/national policy instruments, in addressing RES development in a more sustainable way. The Knowledge Accelerators will ensure that IRENES learning process occurs at individual, institution and stakeholders levels to guarantee durable effects of the project interregional exchange of experience and positive impact on the regional/national territorial development. Local IKAs will internalize the IRENES learning method into PPs organizational learning processes related to the definition and management of regional/national development policies. Communication and dissemination campaigns will raise awareness on the importance of co-relation between RES exploitation and Ecosystem Services for more sustainable territory management and will contribute to improving the mainstreaming of the ES concept through common methods for ES-RES monitoring, to developing dedicated financing mechanisms, and helping policymakers generate win-win outcomes during policy formulation and implementation.

Thematic information

Regional planning and development Renewable energy

Specific Objective: Improve the implementation of regional development policies and programmes, in particular programmes for Investment for Growth and Jobs and, where relevant, ETC programmes, addressing the transition to a low-carbon economy

Thematic Objective: (04) supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors by:

Investment Priority: (04e) promoting low-carbon strategies for all types of territories, in particular for urban areas, including the promotion of sustainable multimodal urban mobility and mitigation-relevant adaptation measures

Partners (10)

Lead Partner: Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia

Address: Santa Croce, 191, 30135 Venice, Italy

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.iuav.it

Total budget: EUR 349 475.00

ERDF budget: EUR 297 053.75

Ministerul Fondurilor Europene ( Autoritatea de Management pentru Programul Operational Infrastructura Mare

Name: Ministerul Fondurilor Europene ( Autoritatea de Management pentru Programul Operational Infrastructura Mare

Address: Sos Bucuresti Ploiesti 1-1b, Intrarea prin strada Menuetului 7, 11171 Bucharest, Romania

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.mfe.gov.ro

Total budget: EUR 119 087.00

ERDF budget: EUR 101 223.95

Universitatea din București

Name: Universitatea din București

Address: Bd. Kogalniceanu no. 36-46, 50107 Bucharest, Romania

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.unibuc.ro

Total budget: EUR 130 215.00

ERDF budget: EUR 110 682.75

Eesti Maaülikool

Name: Eesti Maaülikool

Department: Institute of agricultural and Environmental Sciences / Chair of Environmental Protection and Landscape Management

Address: Kreutzwaldi 1, 51006 Tartu, Estonia

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.emu.ee

Total budget: EUR 136 850.00

ERDF budget: EUR 116 322.50

Keskkonnaagentuur

Name: Keskkonnaagentuur

Department: NA

Address: Mustamäe tee 33,, 10616 Tallinn, Estonia

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.keskkonnaagentuur.ee/en

Total budget: EUR 157 775.00

ERDF budget: EUR 134 108.75

Leibniz Universität Hannover

Name: Leibniz Universität Hannover

Department: Institute of Environmental Planning (Institut für Umweltplanung)

Address: Herrenhäuser Str. 2, 30419 Hannover, Germany

Legal status: public

Total budget: EUR 160 657.00

ERDF budget: EUR 136 558.45

Veneto Innovazione S.p.A.

Name: Veneto Innovazione S.p.A.

Department: Area Politiche Europee

Address: Via Cà Marcello 67/D, I-30172 Venice Mestre, Italy

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.venetoinnovazione.it

Total budget: EUR 172 735.00

ERDF budget: EUR 146 824.75

Anglia Ruskin University Higher Education Corporation

Name: Anglia Ruskin University Higher Education Corporation

Department: Faculty of Business and Law

Address: East Road, CB1 1PT Cambridge, United Kingdom

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.anglia.ac.uk

Total budget: EUR 180 166.00

ERDF budget: EUR 153 141.10

University of East Anglia

Name: University of East Anglia

Department: School of Environmental Sciences

Address: Norwich Research Park, NR4 7TJ Norwich, United Kingdom

Legal status: public

Website: https://www.uea.ac.uk/

Total budget: EUR 185 179.00

ERDF budget: EUR 157 402.15

Klimaschutzagentur Region Hannover (KSA)

Name: Klimaschutzagentur Region Hannover (KSA)

Address: Goethestr. 19, 30169 Hannover, Germany

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.klimaschutzagentur.de

Total budget: EUR 189 644.00

ERDF budget: EUR 161 197.40

Partners map

Partners and Projects info

Ministry of European Funds (Managing Authority for Large Infrastructure Operational Programme)

Integrating RENewable energy and Ecosystem Services in environmental and energy policies

Partners and Projects info

University of Bucharest

Integrating RENewable energy and Ecosystem Services in environmental and energy policies

Partners and Projects info

Estonian University of Life Sciences

Integrating RENewable energy and Ecosystem Services in environmental and energy policies

Partners and Projects info

The Estonian Environment Agency

Integrating RENewable energy and Ecosystem Services in environmental and energy policies

Partners and Projects info

Leibniz University Hannover

Integrating RENewable energy and Ecosystem Services in environmental and energy policies

Partners and Projects info

Veneto Innovazione S.p.A.

Integrating RENewable energy and Ecosystem Services in environmental and energy policies

Partners and Projects info

Anglia Ruskin University Higher Education Corporation

Integrating RENewable energy and Ecosystem Services in environmental and energy policies

Partners and Projects info

University of East Anglia

Integrating RENewable energy and Ecosystem Services in environmental and energy policies

Partners and Projects info

Climate Protection Agency Hannover Region (CPAH)

Integrating RENewable energy and Ecosystem Services in environmental and energy policies

Partners and Projects info

IUAV UNIVERSITY OF VENICE

Integrating RENewable energy and Ecosystem Services in environmental and energy policies

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Integrating RENewable energy and Ecosystem Services in environmental and energy policies

Project acronym: IRENES

Project start date: 2019-08-01

Project end date: 2023-07-31

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 1 781 783.00

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 1 514 515.55

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, EUR 1 514 515.55.

Documents

Documents on this project are listed below, and organised by category. Please note field "Data source", attached to each document. Keep.eu users are free to use these documents as long as they mention the data source and keep.eu.

Reports

Action plan - Estonia

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/irenes/

Publication date: 2024-08-13

Document date: 2023-07-31

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Action plan - Lower Saxony

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/irenes/

Publication date: 2024-08-13

Document date: 2023-07-31

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Action plan - Romania

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/irenes/

Publication date: 2024-08-13

Document date: 2023-07-31

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Action plan - Veneto

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/irenes/

Publication date: 2024-08-13

Document date: 2022-04-21

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Action plan - East England region

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/irenes/

Publication date: 2024-08-13

Document date: 2022-06-15

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Videos / films

IRENES Final Video

Attachment type: link

Type of document: Video / film

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/irenes/

Publication date: 2024-08-13

Document date: 2022-08-01

Languages: en

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2014 - 2020 Interreg Europe

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2023-10-31

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

258 / 258 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

2 084 / 2 085 (99.95%)

Notes on the data

Information provided by the Programme.

The financial data featured in keep.eu for this programme, it's projects and its partners is not exact and should be taken as a reference only.

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Integrating RENewable energy and Ecosystem Services in environmental and energy policies

Description

Thematic information

Partners (10)

Partners map

Summary

Documents

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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